Jackson baseball rallies for late win over Monroe

Published 10:55 pm Friday, April 3, 2026

MONROE — Jackson baseball needed one more push.

After erasing two separate one-run deficits against Monroe on Friday, Jackson trailed once again entering the seventh inning. Junior Maddox Bingham put the home side ahead 3-2 on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the sixth.

The Jackson dugout had complete confidence that it could knot things up for a third time, especially with the top of the order due up. Now it just came down to executing.

“I’m just thinking I’m trying to get a good at-bat for my team,” said senior Ashton Bergman, the leadoff hitter who scored Jackson’s first two runs. “Hopefully I get on and they score me, and hopefully we can carry that momentum after that first base-runner, and I hope we can lead that to a win.”

Just as he hoped, Bergman set the tone by working a walk on a full count, and after sophomore Ryan Taguchi reached on a bunt, junior Gavin Duckart tied it up with an RBI single into the gap between second and third base, which was left open on Monroe’s shift to defend a bunt. Two batters later, senior Quin Johns gave Jackson its first lead, grounding into a fielder’s choice at second and beating out the throw for a potential inning-ending double play, which was ultimately dropped to allow for a second run to score.

In the bottom of the frame, the Timberwolves (9-1) allowed two runners to reach base, but Taguchi shut the door on the mound to secure the 5-3 comeback win over the Bearcats (3-3).

“I never doubted us,” Johns said. “I trust our lineup the whole time, and once they put the new pitcher in, I knew we were going to come through.”

Bergman went 2-for-2 with two walks and three runs scored, and Duckart went 2-for-4 with an RBI to lead the production at the plate. Senior Nathan Hajek pitched 5 1/3 innings in relief, allowing four hits and one earned run.

On the verge of suffering its second loss in as many days, Jackson checked off its first “rebound” opportunity in dramatic fashion. There’s a new dynamic for the team this season, according to coach Joe Fleury, who believes last year’s group “surprised” other teams by starting 10-1 before making runs to the District 1/2 4A title game and the 4A State semifinals.

In 2026, the Timberwolves have learned to expect everyone’s best, no matter who they suit up against.

“Everybody’s gunning to knock us off,” Fleury said. “We kind of understand that, and so I didn’t see them panic. They kind of like settled into it, and we kind of trusted, eventually we’re going to get it done.”

Jackson certainly got the best from Monroe’s starting pitcher, senior AJ Welch, who allowed one earned run and six hits while striking out five across six innings. At the plate, juniors Cody Walker (3-for-3) and Adam Manke (2-for-3, 1 RBI) each had multi-hit days.

The Bearcats have had an up-and-down start to the season, splitting series against Snohomish and Marysville Getchell, but coach Connor Thompson is happy with the buy-in he’s seeing from the team, which proved it can go toe-to-toe with a top Wesco 4A program.

“Jackson’s a very talented and offensive team, and I was really proud of (us) dealing with adversity in some innings,” Thompson said. “Got a lot of big outs in big moments for us to even give us a chance. (Welch) pitched fantastic to help us, and a lot of big opportunities for our bottom-of-the-order guys to step up and just keep the train rolling. It’s unfortunate how baseball goes.”

Opportunistic in the first inning, Monroe batters saw nine straight balls to start before Manke put the first strike in play with an RBI single to left field. Junior Joe Enrico scored, colliding with Duckart at the plate to give the Bearcats a 1-0 lead. Monroe worked another walk to load the bases, and Hajek took over on the mound for Jackson, where he struck out his first batter before inducing an inning-ending groundout to strand the runners.

“My biggest key is just stay with my stuff, trust my stuff, and trust my team behind me to do their job,” Hajek said. “I know they would, and they did.”

Added Fleury: “Nathan’s a senior with a lot of confidence. He’s one of those guys that grew up in the program. We’ve coached him for a long time, and so we understand that that’s what he’s built for. … He’s been good. Nate’s a dog.”

Hajek went three up, three down in the second inning to keep things rolling, and the Timberwolves tied it 1-1 in the third. Bergman doubled to center, then reached third during the following at-bat on a botched pick-off attempt. Taguchi brought him home with an RBI groundout to second.

The Bearcats punched back in the bottom of the frame, with sophomore Andre Tarasov reaching first on an error as senior Caleb Campbell scored from third. Both pitchers turned in quick innings to breeze through the fourth, and Jackson tied it once again in the fifth, with Bergman scoring from second on a Monroe throwing error after Duckart put the ball in play.

“I’m trying to stay basic and trust myself on the base paths,” Bergman said. “I feel like I can contribute there, and I feel like my awareness carries me.”

Tarasov led off the bottom of the sixth with a walk for Monroe, and he eventually made it around the bases by stealing second and advancing to third on an errant pick-off attempt. The outfielder put himself in position to easily push the Bearcats back ahead 3-2 on Bingham’s sacrifice fly.

It didn’t take long for Jackson to tie it back up, and by the time Johns got to the plate with a chance to take the lead, there was no second-guessing how he would go about it.

“I knew no matter what, someone was going to score if I put one on the ground,” Johns said. “Up the middle, at least one was going to score. If I pull it, I’ll be out, but the guy from third is going to score. I just was trying to put one on the ground.”

After working up a hitter-friendly 2-0 count, Johns fouled one off before sending a grounder up the middle, scoring senior MJ Holcomb and Taguchi to give the Timberwolves their first lead of the game when it mattered most.

Manke and junior Gavin Prescott hit singles in the bottom of the seventh to put the winning run at the plate for Monroe, but the Bearcats grounded into a fielder’s choice at second for the final out.

The Timberwolves have two more non-league games before jumping into the rest of their Wesco 4A slate, but the players affirmed something to themselves in Friday’s gritty win.

“I think it was a great bounce-back experience coming back after that tough loss last night (9-2 against Edmonds-Woodway),” Bergman said. “It was just brutal, and then going on the road here, that just shows how tough our team is, our mental state, and how competitive we are as a team. … When our team has a chip on our shoulder, we’re unstoppable. And today we had one on our shoulder, and we were ready to go.”